Road was straight one for Krajcik, who stayed true to talent

Serendipity: 1. a gift for finding something good accidentally, 2. luck, or good fortune, in finding something good accidentally.

-- Webster's New World College Dictionary

WOOSTER -- Family and friends of Josh Krajcik will tell you they recognized his gift of music at an early age.

Josh Krajcik has taken the country by storm with his singing and guitar and piano playing, enough to catapult Wooster's native son into the finals of "The X Factor" talent competition.

But the attention and accolades have not always been what they are now.

Ron Krajcik, who taught his son some chords on the guitar, said as a boy he really wanted to do his own thing and play in his own style.

Rebekah Anderson, who was in music class with the now-famous singer, said her classmate played the piano at her sister's wedding reception. She could not recall what songs he played, but she said she thought he sat at the piano and just played his own musical creations.

"Josh was always different from all of the other kids," said his grandmother, Judy Oliver-Delaney. "I would want to take him skiing, and he preferred to stay home. He didn't want to participate; he just wanted to play his guitar and piano."

"He's always had this talent," said Stacy Rottman, a friend of Lisa and Bill Pim, Josh Krajcik's mother and stepfather. "It's finally his time."

But what makes it Josh Krajcik's time? Why now? Why this time?

Josh Krajcik has started down this path to a career as a singer-songwriter already, only to reach dead ends.

At 16, Krajcik lied about his age in order to sing and play guitar at a bar in Lodi. He developed a local following and was a favorite at the Javapalooza concerts organized by Andrew and Shelly Wilson of the former Seattle's Coffee House.

After forming the Josh Krajcik Band, the band ended up supporting Gran Bel Fisher on tour. They played at Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn., and made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC.

The Josh Krajcik Band recorded Ghosts in 2005 and Atavistic in 2011.

Josh Krajcik ended up living in Columbus and began working at a burrito restaurant to help support his daughter, Rowan, never really reaching, musically, the status his friends and family believed was his.

That is, until one day he received an email from an old friend.

Oliver-Delaney, while receiving a proclamation from the Wayne County commissioner proclaiming Dec. 21, 2011, as Josh Krajcik Day, told them Fisher contacted her grandson saying he was going to Chicago to audition for a show called "The X Factor," and Fisher wanted him to go, too.

Jane Carmichael, a close friend of Lisa Pim, said after Fisher made contact, Josh Krajcik called his mother and said the two were headed for Chicago. Carmichael said she did not know whether Fisher encouraged his friend to go in order to play in his band or to audition for himself.

However, Fisher later told Josh Krajcik he was not going to Chicago, Carmichael said, adding his mother told him, "If you want to go, we'll go."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

"Had Gran Bel not (contacted) him, I don't think this would have happened," Oliver-Delaney said.

"And all of this talent would have gone to waste," Wayne County Commissioner Jim Carmichael told her.

Oliver-Delaney said when her grandson was young and started playing instruments, she did not see the talent that would propel him to stardom. That would come later.

"I didn't think this would happen when he was a kid, but I did when he started a band," she said.

The trajectory of Josh Krajcik's music career might not have unfolded as planned, but those around him knew it was only a matter of time.

"This is something we always knew would happen and in this fashion," longtime friend Mike Gasser said. "It's amazing. There was never a doubt. I knew he was going to do it."

Oliver-Delaney and Rottman believe Josh Krajcik's success on "The X Factor" is validation that in a world of standardized tests, sometimes a kid just needs to be a kid.

"Let kids be who they are because you never know what might happen," Rottman said.

Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or bwarren@the-daily-record.com. He's @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.